MOSCOW. July 9 (Interfax-AVN) - The sanctions imposed by Western countries against Russia have not affected its tank construction industry, including UralVagonZAvod (UVZ) corporation, said Vyacheslav Khalitov, UVZ deputy general director for special equipment.
"It had no effect whatsoever on our tank industry," Khalitov said on the Ekho Moskvy radio on Tuesday.
When asked about consequences of the breaking of the Russian-Ukrainian cooperation in tank construction, Khalitov said that the Kyiv-initiated decision to stop cooperation with Russia has done more damage to Ukrainian companies.
"Ukraine has been more hit by its isolation because many nodes, units and parts (for tanks) are made in Russia for their (Ukrainian) tank construction industry. We have it all backed up, so we are barely affected," Khalitov said.
He recalled that the Soviet Union had three main tank makers based in Kharkiv, Omsk and Nizhny Tagil. The Soviet Army was using three main types of military tanks: T-64 made at the Malyshev Plant in Kharkiv; T-80 made in Omsk (now part of UVZ Corporation) and T-72 built at the UVZ facility in Nizhny Tagil.